Trying to be your own person in a world that emphasizes conformity can lead to emotional distress.

In today's society, uniqueness may be emphasized, but it is conformity that is actually encouraged.

People may be subconsciously motivated to cause difficulties for others trying to be their own person.

Being a true individual means questioning what is driving your actions.

In a world that preaches individuality, it is surprising to see how much conformity actually exists. Being a truly different individual takes a lot of conscious effort.

Psychotherapists talk about the concept of cognitive dissonance. This psychological concept relies on the fact that people want very much to believe that what they are doing must be the right thing to do. It is essentially a person falling into a cognitive trap of rationalizing, thinking, “Because I am doing something this way, that must mean it is right.”

We all live in a world where we do not like to admit that we are pretty much making it up as we go along.

Cognitive dissonance affects how people treat other people because if we see people acting differently, then our reaction is often to assume they are wrong. This leads people to live in a world where “different means wrong.” From a deeper perspective, cognitive dissonance is actually the person........

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